Bob Costa: ‘Don’t Rule Out Romney’ For 2016

One of the best-sourced reporters in Washington says you shouldn’t rule out Mitt Romney to make a third run for the presidency in 2016.

During an interview Monday on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, The Washington Post’s Bob Costa said the Republican Party might end up turning to Romney.

“Romney, I think, leaves it on the table. Romney sees it’s all about service,” Costa told this writer, who is guest hosting Hugh Hewitt’s radio show all this week. “Don’t rule out Romney. The party could turn to him, especially if [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie or [former Florida Gov. Jeb] Bush don’t run or struggle.”

Back in February, Romney told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he was absolutely not running for president again in 2016.

“The answer is no, I’m not running for president in 2016,” he said. “It’s time for someone else to take that responsibility and I’ll be supporting our nominee.”

But not everybody believes that the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican nominee has seen his last presidential campaign. Romney friend Jason Chaffetz, a Republican congressman from Utah, said earlier this month that he suspects Romney will run in 2016.

“I think he actually is going to run for president — he probably doesn’t want me to say that,” Chaffetz said on MSNBC. “A hundred times he says he’s not, but Mitt Romney has always accomplished what he’s set out to do. I think he’s been proven right on a lot of stuff. I happen to be in the camp that thinks he’s actually going to run and I think he will be the next president of the United States.”

In June, Romney topped a poll of Republican New Hampshire primary voters.

A national campaign to draft Romney into running for president in 2016 is set to launch in August.